Envelope machine



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

W. D. SLATER.

ENVELOPE MAGHINE.

No. 463,459. Patented Nov. 17, 1891.

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70w J-iorneyo (No Model;) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

W. D. SLATER.

. ENVELOPE MACHINE. No. 463,459.. --Pa.tented Nov. 17, 1891.

Fla-lineages. Inventor.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM D. SLATER, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE MORGANENVELOPE COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

ENVELOPE-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 463,459, dated November17, 1891.

Application filed April 7, 1888. Serial No. 269,943. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM'D. SLATER, ofSpringfield, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Envelope Machines; and Ido hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, reference being had to the acc'ompanyingdrawings, forming a part of this specification, and to the letters ofreference marked thereon.

My invention relates to improvements in the mechanism for operating theelevator or blank-table in envelope-machines; andit consists in thenovel construction and combination of parts hereinafter described andclaimed, whereby the elevator is enabled to be fed or raisedautomatically and positively and each time to an extent proportioned tothe thickness of the paper of which the blanks are composed, andwhereby, also, the feed of said elevator may be changed or regulated atpleasure without stopping the machine. The

. construction is also such that the attendant may easily raise andlower the elevator by throwing the automatic devices out of operation.

a side elevation, partly in section, of a portion of anenvelope-machine, showing the application of my improvements thereto.Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same. Figs. 3 and 4. are detail viewsshowing the mannerin which the feeding mechanism is driven from the mainshaft. Fig. 5 is a view illustrating the manner in which the lifting-camoperates to raise the elevator.

Similar letters of reference in the'several figures indicate the sameparts.

A represents the elevator, upon the upper portion of which theenvelope-blanks to be fed to the gumming and folding mechanism areplaced. This elevator is adapted to move freely in vertical ways orguides in the frame B.

E is a shaft having firmly secured to it by a key or otherwise a cam D,with which a projection or roller 0 on the elevator is adapted toco-operate, as shown in Fig. 5.

Mounted loosely upon shaft E is a wormgear F, having attached to it orformed inte- In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is.

gral with it a half-coupling F ,which is adapted to engage with acorresponding half-coupling H, connected by a spline-and-grooveconnection to the shaft E, so as to turn with said shaft, but be capableof a free longitudinal movement thereon. Upon the end of the shaft E isa hand-wheel J, secured to a nut K, and having a recess in its innerside for receiving a portion H of the half-couplingH when saidhalf-coupling is moved on the shaft in the direction of the hand-wheel,and I is a spring which operates to keep said half-coupling H normallyinengagement with the halfcoupling F on the worm-gear F. By grasping thehand-wheel J and pressing the portion H of the movable half-couplinginto the recess in said hand-wheel the half-couplings are thrown out ofengagement, and the operator is then enabled by means of the handwheelto freely rotate the shaft E and through the cam D and roller 0 raise orlower the elevatorat will. 7

The worm-gear F meshes with a worm G, and upon the worm-shaft ismountedaratchet-wheel L, with which (so-operates a pawl M, carried by arod N, that is given a longitudinal reciprocating motion by means of acam Q on the driving-shaft R of the machine. The

upper end of the rod N passes through an arm or bracket P and bears anadjustable nut O. Each time the rod N is raised by the action of the camQ the pawl M, carried by it, rotates the ratchet-wheel L, and throughthe worm G, worm-gear F, and half-couplings 8 5 F H cause the shaft B tobe rotated and the elevator to be lifted, as before described. Thedistance which the elevator is raised, or, in other words, the extent ofthe feed, depends upon the extent of the throw given the rod.

carrying the pawl, and this in turn is regulated by the adjustment ofthe feed-nut 0. When said feed-nut is unscrewed, the rod carrying thepawl is allowed to drop to its lowest extent upon the cam Q before saidnut strikes 5 the bracket P and is arrested thereby, and as the resultof this the rod carrying the pawl is given its greatest movement, andthe ratchetwheel is turned through the distance represented by quite anumber of its teeth; but if too the said feed-nut is screwed up more andmore the throw of the rod is' shortened and the pawl turns theratchet-wheel less and less until each successive tooth is engaged,which will give, of course, the minimum feed.

The practical operation of the invention is as follows: Let it besupposed that the elevator is down to its lowest position and ready toreceive the envelope-blanks that are to be fed to the gummer and picker.The operator places the blanks on the table of the elevator, grasps thehand-wheel J, and with his fingers moves the half-coupling II out ofengagement with the half-coupling F, and then turns said hand-wheel tothe left, thereby causing the cam D to operate on the roller 0 and raisethe elevator upward to the gummer and picker. When the blanks have beencarried to the desired height, the movable half-coupling is released,and it is carried into engagement with the half-coup ling on theworm-gear F by the operation of the spring I, thus throwing theautomatic feed into operation and causing the elevator to be furtherraised step by step and to an extent each time determined by theadjustment of the feed-nut O, as before described.

. If the feed has been previously set for very thin paper and it becomesnecessary to change it to adapt it to a thicker paper, it is onlynecessary that the feed-nut be unscrewed, so as to increase the feed.Since all the elements of the automatic feeding arrangement operatepositively, the greatest certainty of operation is secured and there isno danger of slip ping and failure to feed, as there is in machineswhere frictional connections are relied upon. As I before suggested, theautomatic feed of the platform is susceptible of being increased ordiminished without stopping the operation of the machine, and wheneverit is desired to lower the elevator or raise it to a given point by asingle movement it can be done by simply disengaging the half-couplingsand turning the hand-wheel in the manner pointed out. The cam D is soformed as to give a uniform and regular movement to the elevator whenthe shaft is turned, as any skillful mechanic will understand.

In a contemporaneous application, Serial No. 269,367, I have shown astrap connection between the elevator and its shaft instead of the camherein shown, and have included claims in said application of sufficientbreadth to cover both or equivalent mechanism when combined with aclutch and hand-wheel interposed between the driver and elevator shafts;therefore I do not wish to be understood as claiming such broad matterherein.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is 1. In anenvelope-machine, the combination, with the elevator and its guides, ofthe shaft carrying the worm-gear and the liftingcam, a clutch forconnecting the worm-gear to its shaft, the worm, the ratchet-wheel, andreciprocating feed-bar carrying the pawl, substantially as described.

2. In an envelope-machine, the combination, with the elevator and itsguides, of the shaft bearing the lifting-cam and the wormwheel, a clutchfor connecting the worm-wheel to its shaft, the worm-shaft, theratchet-wheel, the feed-bar and its pawl, the actuating-cam, and thefeed-nut, substantially as described.

3. In an envelope-machine, the combination, with the worm-gear, theshaft on which itis mounted, the lifting-cam and the elevator, of theworm-shaft, the ratchet-Wheel, the feedbar and its pawl, theactuating-cam, the feednut and its co-operating stop, and the clutchdevices for connecting the worm-gear to its shaft, substantially asdescribed.

4. In an envelope-machine, the combination, with the elevator and itsguides, of the shaft bearin g the worm-gear, hand-wheel, andlifting-cam, and the l1alf-col1plings on the worm-wheel and shaft,respectively, substantially as described.

5. In an envelope-machine, the combination of the elevator and itsguides, the liftingcam and its shaft, the Worm-gear on the pulley-shaftprovided with the half-coupling, and a co'operating half-couplingconnected to the pulley-shaft by a spline-and-groove connection,substantially as described.

6. In an envelope-machine, the combination, with the shaft E,lifting-cam, and elevator, of the worm-gear mounted on said shaft andprovided with a half-coupling, the handwheel, the co-operatinghalf-coupling connected by a splineand-groove connection to the shaft,and the spring for keeping the halfcoupling normally engaged,substantially as described.

7. In an envelope-machine, the combination of the elevator and itsguide, the lifting-cain and its shaft, the Worm-gear and itshalf-coupling, the hand-wheel, the movable half-coupling, and the springfor holding the provided with the half-coupling, a co-operatinghalf-coupling connected to said shaft by a spline-and-groove connection,and the lifting'cam, and the co-operating roller on the elevator,substantially such as described, between the shaft and elevator.

YVILLIAM D. SLATER.

YVitnesses:

EDW. H. DAY, ROGER MORGAM.

